Rotatable stirrup bar for a saddle tree

ABSTRACT

A horse saddle has a saddletree to which is mounted a rotatable stirrup bar. The rotatable stirrup bar allows the stirrup leathers to rotate relative to the saddle with reduced wear and tear to the stirrup leather.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to horse saddles and is particularly directedto a stirrup bar that can be pivotally or rotatably attached relative tothe saddletree. The invention will be described with reference to ahorse saddle but it should be appreciated that the invention may alsoextend to saddles for other types of animals.

BACKGROUND ART

A saddle is typically manufactured using a rigid internal saddle frame,which is also known as a saddletree. A typical saddletree is illustratedin FIG. 1. The saddletree is made of rigid material that may comprisewood, laminated wood, fibreglass, rigid plastics material and the like.The saddletree typically has a length of between 50-90 cm and a width ofbetween 30-60 cm although this can vary. The tree has a rear cantleportion (see reference numeral 11 FIG. 1), a front gullet portion(reference numeral 12 FIG. 1) and a pair of side rails (13, 14 FIG. 1).A strong steel stirrup bar (15) is fixed to the front portion of thesaddletree and is immovable with respect to the saddletree. The stirrupbar illustrated in FIG. 1 is typical for an Australian saddle, and thestirrup bar is made such that the stirrup leather can be releasablyattached to the stirrup bar. For an American western saddle, the stirrupbar is in the form of a closed loop, which means that the stirrupleather cannot be released from the stirrup bar.

In use, a stirrup is attached to each stirrup bar. The stirrups functionto hold and support a rider's foot. If the rider stands-up the entireweight of the stirrups, and therefore the stirrup bar supports therider. This creates quite large stresses on the stirrup leather that aretransferred to the stirrup bar. If the direction of the stress is at anangle to the stirrup bar, there is a possibility of damage to thestirrup bar, and/or damage to the saddletree.

Stirrup bars are known that allow the stirrup to swing inwardly andoutwardly relative to the saddle. Sometimes a loose fit of the stirrupleather to the bar is sufficient; other times the stirrup bar cancontain a bush or sleeve to allow the leather to swing inwardly andoutwardly relative to the saddle. It is also known to provide somelateral adjustment of the stirrup leather relative to the bar (i.e.allowing the leather to be spaced further away or nearer to the rider'slegs).

The present invention is directed to a stirrup bar assembly that has amember which can rotate and which can reduce stress on the leather strapthat is attached to the stirrup bar. In one form, this can be achievedby having the stirrup leather attached to the member which can rotateabout an axis which is transverse to the length of the saddle to reducestress on the stirrup leather, and/or the stirrup bar and therefore tothe saddle tree.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a stirrup bar assembly, anda saddle having such a stirrup bar assembly that may overcome at leastsome of the abovementioned disadvantages or provide the public with theuseful or commercial choice.

In one form, the invention resides in a stirrup bar assembly, theassembly comprising a stirrup bar that is mounted for rotation relativeto a saddletree.

Suitably, the stirrup bar assembly comprises an attachment plate. Theattachment plate is typically attached to the saddletree. The means ofattachment may vary but may include fasteners, adhesive, or manufactureof the saddletree in such a manner that the attachment plate forms partof the saddletree. The attachment plate may comprise a metal plate. Themetal plate may comprise steel. The metal plate may be substantiallyplanar. The metal plate may have a length of between 5-20 cm, a width ofbetween 3-10 cm, and a thickness of between 1-5 mm. This can of coursevary to suit. The metal plate may be substantially rectangular whenviewed in plan but may have beveled corners.

A shaft may be attached to the attachment plate. The shaft may extendfrom one side of the attachment plate and is typically substantiallyperpendicular to the attachment plate. The shaft may comprise acylindrical shaft. The shaft may be manufactured from metal such assteel. One end of the shaft may be fixed to the attachment plate suchthat the shaft does not rotate relative to the attachment plate.Alternatively, the shaft may be fitted such that it can rotate relativeto the attachment plate. The shaft may have a length of between 10-40mm, and if the shaft is cylindrical, it may have a diameter of between10-30 mm.

Alternatively, the stirrup bar assembly may comprise a shaft that isprovided with a laterally extending portion such as a flange. In thisarrangement, the attachment plate need not be present. The saddletreeside plate can be formed with an opening through which the shaft passeswith the laterally extending portion preventing the shaft from passingentirely through the opening. The laterally extending portion can thenbe fixed to the saddletree to hold the shaft in place.

If desired, a plurality of openings may be formed through the saddletreeside plate to allow the shaft to be mounted relative to the saddletreeat different positions to improve the comfort position for a rider.

A bearing may be attached relative to the shaft. The bearing maycomprise a roller bearing that may be pressed over the shaft. One ormore thrust washers may be provided which may be on each side of thebearing.

The stirrup bar may be attached to the roller bearing. Suitably, thestirrup bar is fixed to the roller bearing such that rotation of thebearing causes rotation of the stirrup bar. The stirrup bar is suitablyable to rotate 360° relative to the attachment plate.

Alternative arrangements are envisaged to allow the stirrup bar to berotatably mounted relative to the saddletree. For instance, the shaftmay be rotatably mounted relative to the attachment plate, and thestirrup bar may be mounted to the shaft.

The stirrup bar typically comprises a metal member. The metal member maybe formed from metal plate. The metal member may be provided with asupporting finger on which the stirrup leather can be attached in aremovable manner. In this arrangement, the supporting finger may have afree end to allow the stirrup leather to be attached and removedrelative to the supporting finger.

Alternatively, the stirrup bar may be shaped or configured such that thestirrup leather cannot be removed. For instance, the stirrup bar may bein the form of a closed loop. The closed loop may have a substantiallytriangular shape to define an internal opening or eyelet through whichthe stirrup leather can extend.

Alternative configurations of the stirrup bar are envisaged.

A stop means or limit means may be provided to prevent undesirablerotation of the stirrup bar. This may be in the form of a projection,button, profile and the like. The stop means or limit means may beattached to the saddletree. The stirrup bar may be provided with anabutment portion that can abut with the stop means or limit means toprevent further undesirable rotation of the stirrup bar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to thefollowing drawings in which:

FIG. 1. Illustrates a known saddletree design containing a conventionalstirrup bar.

FIG. 2. Illustrates a side view of a stirrup bar according to anembodiment of the invention for attachment to one side of thesaddletree.

FIG. 3. Illustrates the mirror image of the stirrup bar of FIG. 2 forattachment to the other side of the saddletree.

FIG. 4. Illustrates an end of view of the stirrup bar of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5. Illustrates a rear side view of the stirrup bar of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6. Illustrates how the stirrup bar can adopt a first angularposition.

FIG. 7. Illustrates how the stirrup bar can adopt a second angularposition.

FIG. 8. Illustrates a different type of stirrup bar that is particularlysuitable for an American western saddle.

FIG. 9. Illustrates another type of stirrup bar (English style stirrupbar), which has a spring mounted end piece that provides a safetyfeature.

FIG. 10. Illustrates a further embodiment of the invention where anattachment plate is not required and the shaft has a laterally extendingportion (such as a flange), the shaft passing through an opening in theside plate of the saddletree.

FIG. 11. Illustrates a portion of the side rail of a saddletree formedwith a pair of openings to provide adjustment to the positioning of thesaddletree assembly.

BEST MODE

Referring to the drawings, and initially to figure 1, there isillustrated a known type of saddletree. The saddletree forms the rigidinternal frame for a saddle, and can be made out of fibreglass, wood, orany other suitable material. The saddletree 10 has a rear cantle portion11, a front gullet portion 12, and a pair of side rails 13, 14 all ofwhich are formed integrally. Rigidly attached to the saddletree is astirrup bar 15 of known design. This stirrup bar is used for anAustralian saddle and allows the stirrup leather to be removed from thestirrup bar. The stirrup bar 15 has a lower elongate finger 16 overwhich the stirrup leather can be supported. Typically, stitching orotherwise attaching a leather and padded overlay to the saddletree formsthe saddle.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, there is illustrated a left hand side and aright hand side stirrup bar assembly 17, 18 according to an embodimentof the invention. Each assembly is attached to one side of thesaddletree such that the saddletree is provided with two suchassemblies. In the embodiment, each assembly is provided with anattachment plate or backing plate 19. Plate 19 is fastened to thesaddletree 10 by any suitable manner. Plate 19 is formed of steel and issubstantially rectangular when viewed in plan except with the inclusionof bevelled corners. Plate 19 has a length of 10 cm, a width of 5 cm,and a thickness of 4 mm. This can of course vary to suit.

Attached to plate 19 is a cylindrical steel shaft 20. To fit steel shaft20 to plate 19, plate 19 is formed with a circular hole through whichsteel shaft 20 passes. One end 21 of steel shaft 20 is welded to orotherwise fixed to the rear of plate 19 such as through welds 22 (seeFIG. 4 and FIG. 5). Thus, shaft 20 is rigidly attached to plate 19. Theshaft 20 has a length of 25 mm, and a diameter of 20 mm.

A bearing 25 in the form of a roller bearing is press fitted over shaft20. Thrust washers (not illustrated) are positioned on each side face ofbearing 25. Bearing 25 has a diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of heightof 10 mm. Bearing 25 therefore rotates about rigid shaft 20.

Attached to bearing 25 is a stirrup bar 26. The stirrup bar 26 asillustrated in FIGS. 1-7 is typical for an Australian saddle andcontains an elongate lower finger 27 that has a free end 28 to allowstirrup leather to be removably attached to finger 27. FIG. 8illustrates a different type of stirrup bar 30 which is suited for anAmerican western styles saddle and which has a triangular type shapedefining an internal opening 31 through which the stirrup leather canpass.

It should also be appreciated that the precise shape and configurationof the stirrup bar need not be essential to the invention provided thatthe stirrup bar is able to rotate. Therefore, a variation of theinvention would include a stirrup bar as illustrated in FIG. 1 whichshows a pair of fingers which allows the stirrup bar to be a “dualposition in line stirrup bar”. Similarly, other types of stirrup barscan be used and these may include the American-style stirrup barillustrated in FIG. 8, and an English style stirrup bar illustrated inFIG. 9, where the bar 42 has an end portion 40 which is spring-loaded 41the main portion of the stirrup bar and therefore the end portion 40 isable to flip down from the position illustrated in FIG. 9 to a flippeddown position where the end portion is substantially in line.

Stirrup bar 26 is welded or otherwise attached to bearing 25 by a spotweld 32. Thus, stirrup bar 26 rotates with bearing 25.

Stirrup bar 26 is formed with an abutment or shoulder portion 32. A pinor other type of projection (not illustrated) is provided on saddletree10 in such a way that the pin will abut portion 32, to prevent furtherrotation of stirrup bar 26. Thus, although stirrup bar 26 istheoretically able to rotate by 360° relative to plate 17, in practice,once the assembly is attached to a saddletree, a pin or projection onthe saddletree will prevent such further rotation. In FIG. 1, theposition of such a pin 33 is given.

Referring to FIG. 10, there is illustrated a second embodiment of theinvention. This embodiment does away with the need for an attachmentplate. Instead, there is provided a cylindrical steel shaft 50 one endof which has a laterally extending portion in the form of a circularflange 51. The side rail 52 of the saddle tree is formed with an opening53 which is large enough to allow the steel shaft to pass through theopening, but too small to allow the circular flange 51 to pass throughthe opening. Once shaft 50 has been pushed through the opening, it isheld in place by a circlip 54 that attaches to groove 55 in shaft 50. Ofcourse, the shaft can be removed merely by removal of circlip 54. Oncethe shaft has been attached via circlip 54, a thrust plate 55 is pushedonto shaft 50. A bearing 56 similar to that described previously is thenplaced onto shaft 50 followed by another thrust plate 57, and theassembly is held in place by a second circlip 58 that attaches to recess59. Attached to bearing 56 is a stirrup bar (not illustrated) which issimilar to that described above.

The advantage of this variation is that the attachment plate is notrequired and the assembly can be removed and no welding is necessary.

A further advantage and variation to the invention is to form a numberof openings 53 in the side rail of the saddletree. This is illustratedpartially in FIG. 11. In this manner, the position of the entireassembly can be varied on the side rail of the saddle tree by choosingwhich opening will be used to support the shaft and therefore ultimatelythe stirrup bar. This allows the rider to choose the position that willbe most comfortable for the rider.

The assembly allows the stirrup bar to rotate in unison with the fenderstrap thus transferring stress from the leather strap to the bearing 25.The stirrup bar can now rotate in any direction along with the stirrupleather.

It should be appreciated that various other changes and modificationsare envisaged. For instance, there may be other means to hinge or rotatethe stirrup bar relative to the saddletree. The embodiment describes ashaft 20 that is fixed to plate 17 and where the stirrup bar 26 is fixedto a bearing 25 that rotates relative to shaft 20. Of course, shaft 20may rotate relative to plate 17 in which case stirrup bar 26 is fixed toshaft 20.

What is claimed is:
 1. A stirrup bar assembly, the assembly comprising a stirrup bar for mounting a stirrup loop, the stirrup bar mounted relative to a saddletree for rotation about a pivot which is transverse to the length of the saddletree with the stirrup bar hanging below the pivot and the mounted stirrup loop is able to rotate both forwardly and rearwardly of the pivot whilst the stirrup loop is mounted to the stirrup bar, wherein the stirrup bar includes a cantilevered finger for retaining the stirrup loop on the stirrup bar during rotation.
 2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, comprising an attachment portion which is attached to the saddletree.
 3. The assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the attachment portion comprises an attachment plate.
 4. The assembly as claimed in claim 3, comprising a shaft which is attached to the attachment plate.
 5. The assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shaft is non rotatably attached to the attachment plate.
 6. The assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the stirrup bar is rotatably attached to the shaft.
 7. The assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the shaft is rotatably attached relative to the attachment plate.
 8. The assembly as claimed in claim 7, wherein the stirrup bar is non rotatably attached to the shaft.
 9. The assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the attachment portion comprises an axle.
 10. The assembly as claimed in claim 9, wherein the axle does not rotate, and the stirrup bar is rotatably attached to the axle.
 11. A saddletree containing a pair of stirrup bar assemblies each assembly comprising a stirrup bar as claimed in claim
 1. 12. The saddletree as claimed in claim 11, including a stop member to prevent over rotation of the stirrup bar.
 13. A saddle comprising a saddletree containing a pair of stirrup bar assemblies as claimed in claim
 1. 